Hi all, for as long as I can remember I have had problems with digesting many different food types. Not being able to eat gluten, milk products, and many types of sugars, sweeteners too. More lately finding meat a problem too, as it took so long to transit my gut, I would feel quite ill after eating all types of meat. Since I have been self injecting B12 every other day, now for a month and a half, after my B12 serum was tested and found to be 178 (range 150-900) even after a month of sublingual b12 it was 178. After a further month it was 456 but I still had many symptoms. Which is why I eventually started SI . Well I have been experimenting with various food types and I am not having the horrid reactions I used to get, many of the symptoms I had have also lessened considerably, though if I try and go four days between injections some of the nerve type things come back such as involuntary jaw movements in which I bit great chunks out of my inner cheek or lip or tongue, often when trying to eat carefully!
Is it normal that B12 would have such an effect? My folate was quite normal.
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jointpain
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Hi jointpain I don't think it is the B12 that has improved your digestion but more likely it is the changes you have made to your diet.
Simply put B12 requires a high acid level in the stomach for it to begin to be processed properly from the animal products (meat, fish, seafood, eggs, poultry, dairy produce etc + Marmite) we source it from naturally and if you have low acid levels this will also affect your digestion.
Anyone at any age, can become B12 deficient. However, certain people are at an elevated risk. They include the following:
Vegetarians, vegans and people eating macrobiotic diets.
People aged sixty and over
People who’ve undergone any gastric and/or intestinal surgery, including bariatric surgery for weight loss purposes (Gastric bypass).
People who regularly use proton-pump- inhibitors. H2 blockers, antacids, Metformin, and related diabetes drugs, or other medications, or infections such as h-pylori that can interfere with B12 absorption.
People who undergo surgeries or dental procedures involving nitrous oxide, or who use the drug recreationally.
People with a history of eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia).
People with a history of alcoholism.
People with a family history of pernicious anaemia.
People diagnosed with anaemia (including iron deficiency anaemia, sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia).
People with Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gluten enteropathy (celiac disease), or any other disease that cause malabsorption of nutrients.
People with autoimmune disorders (especially thyroid disorders such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Grave’s disease) Type 1 diabetes, vitiligo, lupus, Addison’s disease, ulcerative colitis, infertility, acquired agammaglobulinemia, or a family history of these disorders.
Women with a history of infertility or multiple miscarriages.
Do you "see yourself" in any of the above people?
I am not a medically trained person but I've had Pernicious Anaemia (a form of B12 deficiency) for more than 46 years.
I actually think it might be the B12 that has improved your digestion. I'm afraid I lose track of where I have seen it but I have read in a few places (including Ghazanfar's book - 'The B12 deficiency survival handbook' which was the last one I read) that stomach problems can be a symptom as well as a cause of low B12. I had a sore (and sometimes painful) stomach pretty much constantly for a year in 2013 and it was in testing for that that they found that I had low B12. I was diagnosed with IBS and given tablets, some of which helped more than others but none of them cleared up the stomach aches. I settled on taking Mebeverine three times a day. Eventually they started me on B12 injections and for the first six weeks, while other issues improved considerably, I noticed little difference in the IBS but after that I started to notice an improvement to the extent that I could come off the tablets and just take them when my stomach flared up. Unfortunately, like so many here, the 12 weekly injections didn't seem enough and after a while my symptoms returned and with them my IBS. After several battles with the GPs I decided to start self injecting and I've been doing that for the last year. My symptoms, including the IBS, have not all vanished but my health and my stomach is certainly as good as it's been for a long while.
It's always difficult to know if my stomach issues were directly caused by my low B12, if they were a secondary symptom caused by my deteriorating health or if it was just a coincidence that the biggest flair-ups occurred when they did but I certainly feel that in my case they were a symptom of low B12 rather than a cause.
B12 can affect people in such different ways but whether I'm right or wrong, I do hope that this marks a long term improvement in your problems.
I think some of B12 deficiencies can be linked to stomach/gut issues, even if my PA seems to be autoinmune, I've always had stomach problems (what's first the egg or the chicken, you know?). Taking probiotics and prebiotics has improved my digestions a lot. I take natural sources as kombucha (raw), yougurt (homemade), sauerkraut (homemade), raw milk cheese, miso... I tried gluten-free diet and it made no improvement for me, I don't have any intolerances: I only need my B12 injections and fermented foods. You can take pre/probiotic pills as well, but they recommend you don't take them for over 3 weeks, in my case I would need them always. I don't think it is bad to take the pills always as I do need the little bugs, it's just very expensive. Why it is said to be bad? Because your system becomes lazy and doesn't bother on generating more gut flora if you take it directly; my system is already as lazy as it gets, so I take pills or fermented foods always. I switch pill brands to get different strains.
Maybe you have low stomach acid and you can benefit from probiotics, this won't cure B12 deficiency nor any of the neuro symptoms, but you will have good digestions and will be able to eat nearly everything.
Part of DNA synthesis, it is required for all cell reproduction, including those lining your stomach and involved with digestion. If you don't have enough B12 then you won't have enough of the required cells.
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